Seek air

TNNApr 11, 2005, 01.10AM IST

IF you belong to the growing tribe of frequent flyers hopping between India and the United States, you might back a few observations from veteran travellers. First, flights between the two countries are almost always full these days.

In the old days, there was what the travel business called a peak season (summer months of June-July-August and from Thanksgiving to New Year) and an off-peak season (anything in between). Now that line has been blurred. It's peak season right through.

According to the US Bureau of Transportation statistics, air passengers between the United States and India grew 86.1 per cent to 520,827 in 2004, from 279,921 passengers in 2000. The number of passengers flying between the two countries grew 29.6 per cent between 2003 and 2004 alone.

Such growth is forcing a significant increase in the number or flights between the US and India and direct connections between more cities in the two countries. For instance, in the old days, US-based Indians who needed to come to Bangalore or Hyderabad had to fly into Mumbai or Chennai (usually coming in past midnight), spend five or six hours at the airport lounge (or a nearby hotel), and catch the first early bird domestic flight home.

But now airlines such as Lufthansa fly direct from Frankfurt to Bangalore and Hyderabad. British Airways is poised to follow suit with direct flights to the two southern capitals. As a result, Bangalore and Hyderabad-bound passengers out of New York, Washington, Chicago, Dallas and other US cities have to make just that one 3-4 hour layover in Frankfurt or London before reaching home. (Unless of course you are heading to Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur etc in which case you may still need to do the night layover in an Indian airport; and if you come from smaller US city, you will also need to take that extra domestic US shuttle - say if you are doing Portland to Pune.)

So to me, the lot of the India-United States traveller will truly be served when they start direct services between second tier American and Indian cities. I'm thinking of Atlanta-Ahmedabad, for example, because I reckon there are enough Gujjus in Georgia who'll want to make that trip home without having to touch New York or Mumbai. Savannah to Surat will be asking for too much, but Boston to Bangalore seems certain to happen before the end of the decade. All in good time, say friends in the travel industry.

For starters though, it does appear now that flight times between India and the US will be greatly curtailed with the introduction of longer range aircraft and more direct, non-stop flights. In the past couple of weeks, Northwest Airlines has announced that it will fly direct from Minneapolis to Bangalore with a layover in Amsterdam, which means folks in the twin cities can fly direct to India without having to take the domestic shuttle to Chicago.

Even better, Continental Airlines has announced a direct, non-stop flight from Newark to New Delhi (14 to 16 hours), which means folks in the New York tri-state region can fly without the previously obligatory layover in Europe. Air Canada too has a direct, non-stop Toronto-New Delhi flight that cuts Europe out of the loop. This, non-stop flights, would have happened a long while back but for 9/11; United Airlines had announced a Chicago-New Delhi non-stop pre-9/11.

Anyway, now that the floodgates are open, American, Delta and others are all lining up direct US-India flights from different cities in both countries. This has come not a day too soon because the layover in Europe was becoming a pain in the fundament. The duty-free shops at Frankfurt and Heathrow have long since ceased to be attractive. Besides, more and more European countries now need you to have a visa even you are just transiting (so add about $ 50 to your ticket price).

On a recent occasion, someone who was flying Lufthansa had to get a transit visa even though he was not leaving the airport terminal in Frankfurt. To boot, the visa was given only for the exact dates he was flying back and forth. And what happens if I have to change my flight or if my return flight is delayed? he asked the fearsome frau at the German consulate. "Then you get another visa," she spake. No wonder your economy is growing at a staggering 1.6 per cent, he muttered, sotto voce, of course.

Hold your tongue, comprador, I counselled the feisty bloke. As far as I am concerned, with both Boeing and Airbus introducing longer range planes, the pit stop in Europe will soon be history. And that's not all. Having seen many a western airlines run to the ground and go down the tubes, I wouldn't even be surprised if some of them become history too. If Lenova can take over IBM's computer business, I see no reason why an Asian firm -- which can run an airline more efficiently out of a cheaper Asian hub -- will not have its imprint what would once have been a famous European airline (like Lufthansa).